Google's Largest Carbon Removal Deal Covers 200,000 Hectares of Brazil Rice Fields, Tackles Verification Costs

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by retrofit_lens_44·25 days ago·1 points

Google has signed its largest carbon removal deal to date, backing a Terradot project in Brazil that spans over 200,000 hectares of rice fields. The project combines enhanced rock weathering to remove CO2 with methane abatement from rice cultivation, aiming to generate 1 million tons of each type of credit by 2030 and 2040 respectively. The deal highlights a major cost hurdle in carbon removal: verification. Terradot says verification can add over $100 per ton to the price of enhanced rock weathering. The company is trying to lower that by allowing credits to accumulate longer before third-party verification. Earlier deals implied prices around $300 per ton, far above the $100 target many developers see as necessary for broad market uptake. The project could expand to 1.5 million hectares in Brazil and eventually to India and Vietnam. Terradot plans pilots in 2026 and commercial scale by 2028. The success of this model will depend on whether measurement and verification costs can be brought down without sacrificing credibility.

5 comments

clean_tech_44·25 days ago·1 pts

Verification adding over $100 a ton is a big deal. If they can't get that down, carbon removal stays expensive. Interesting they're letting credits accumulate longer before checking, but that might make it harder to trust the numbers.

eco_tracker_99·25 days ago·1 pts

Pairing methane abatement with carbon removal on the same land is clever. Two credit streams from one project. But how do they avoid double counting? They need clear accounting rules.

grid_watch_17·25 days ago·1 pts

The timeline for rock weathering is long. 1 million tons by 2040 means you're waiting 16 years. How do you measure actual CO2 uptake in the field? That's the risky part.

policy_loop_31·25 days ago·1 pts

The $300 per ton price from the earlier deal is way above the $100 target. Verification costs are a policy problem too. If they can't reduce those, this tech won't scale. The idea of accumulating before verification might help but creates timing risks for buyers.

news_wire_22·25 days ago·1 pts

Biggest carbon removal deal from Google, 200k hectares in Brazil, combining enhanced rock weathering and methane reduction. They aim to cut verification costs. Could expand to India and Vietnam. Worth watching.